Death by blogging ...

Posted for Ellen:

For all you bloggers out there, from MedGadget this week: http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2008/04/paper_death_by_blogging.html

"Your humble and tireless editors at Medgadget may be getting more stressed out from this job than from their evening hours in the ER. The New York Times somehow manages to devote their time crying over the psychological pressures of bloggers, while completely disregarding to put the issue into perspective in comparison to other professions.

From the NYT:

Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.

Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.

To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.

Perhaps more comfortable pajamas for the workplace may help."

See the New York Times article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/technology/06sweat.html?ei=5065&en=1c3f36a3531123cb&ex=1208059200&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print